Top Java books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Java books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Java

Understanding the concepts of Java starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Java For Dummies

The book starts with an overview of computer programming and builds from there; it explains the software you need, walks you through writing your own programs, and introduces you to a few of the more-complex aspects of programming in Java.

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Core Java

For serious programmers, Core Java, Volume I―Fundamentals, Eleventh Edition, is the definitive guide to writing robust, maintainable code. Whether you’re using Java SE 9, 10, or 11, it will help you achieve a deep and practical understanding of the language and API, and its hundreds of realistic examples reveal the most powerful and effective ways to get the job done.

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JavaScript: Programming Basics for Absolute Beginners

Learning a programming language can seem like a daunting task. You may have looked at coding in the past, and felt it was too complicated and confusing. This comprehensive beginner’s guide will take you step by step through learning one of the best programming languages out there. In a matter of no time, you will be writing code like a professional.
JavaScript is a popular client-side scrip…

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Spring in Action

Spring in Action, 5th Edition is the fully updated revision of Manning's bestselling Spring in Action. This new edition includes all Spring 5.0 updates, along with new examples on reactive programming, Spring WebFlux, and microservices. You'll also find the latest Spring best practices, including Spring Boot for application setup and configuration.

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Head First Design Patterns Elisabeth Robson

This book shows you the patterns that matter, when to use them and why, how to apply them to your own designs, and the object-oriented design principles on which they're based. Join hundreds of thousands of developers who've improved their object-oriented design skills through Head First Design Patterns.

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Java generics and collections

The Java Generics programming is introduced in J2SE 5 to deal with type-safe objects. It makes the code stable by detecting the bugs at compile time. Before generics, we can store any type of objects in the collection, i.e., non-generic. Now generics force the java programmer to store a specific type of objects.

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Additional Java Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Java, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Thinking in Java

Thinking in Java (ISBN 978-0131872486) is a book about the Java programming language, written by Bruce Eckel and first published in 1998. Prentice Hall published the 4th edition of the work in 2006. The book represents a print version of Eckel's “Hands-on Java” seminar.

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Java: A Beginner's Guide, Eighth Edition

The book also covers some of Java's more advanced features, including multithreaded programming, generics, lambda expressions, modules, and Swing. As an added bonus, an introduction to JShell, Java's interactive programming tool, is included.

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Core Java Cay S. Horstmann

With hundreds of realistic examples, Cay S. Horstmann reveals the most powerful and effective ways to get the job done. This book is written for readers with prior programming experience who are looking for in-depth coverage of the Java language and platform.

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Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design: A Brain Friendly Guide to OOA&D

Head First Object-Oriented Analysis & Design shows you how to analyze, design, and write serious object-oriented software: software that's easy to reuse, maintain, and extend; software that doesn't hurt your head; software that lets you add new features without breaking the old ones.

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Java Performance

Coding and testing are often considered separate areas of expertise. In this comprehensive guide, author and Java expert Scott Oaks takes the approach that anyone who works with Java should be equally adept at understanding how code behaves in the JVM, as well as the tunings likely to help its performance.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Java Puzzlers: Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases

Illustrated with visually stunning optical illusions, Java™ Puzzlers features 95 diabolical puzzles that educate and entertain. Anyone with a working knowledge of Java will understand the puzzles, but even the most seasoned veteran will find them challenging.

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This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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